Two masked men carried out an armed robbery at a Pasadena cellphone store Saturday night, in the latest of a series of at least four similar crimes throughout the area in recent weeks, police said.

The heist took place about 7:20 p.m. at a wireless store at a shopping center in the 3800 block of East Foothill Boulevard, just west of Michillinda Avenue, Pasadena police Lt. William Grisafe said.

“The first robber pointed a handgun at the two employees and ordered them to open the safe,” Grisafe said. “Once the safe was opened, the second suspect removed several phones.”

After obtaining about 30 cellphones, the robbers ran from the store in an unknown direction, according to the lieutenant. No getaway car was seen.

No customers were inside the store during the robbery, Grisafe said. The two employees on duty, both men in their mid-20s, were unhurt.

The value of the stolen phones was not immediately available.

Grisafe said the robbers were described as two black men. Both were skinny, wore all dark clothing and covered their faces with masks. One was about 25 years old.

Saturday night’s robbery was the latest in a string of similar cellphone store heists reported in recent weeks in West Covina, Pico Rivera and Temple City. While the robberies in Temple City and Pico Rivera are believed to be the work of the same crew of robbers, authorities have not confirmed a link between those crimes and the robberies in West Covina and Pasadena.

Brian Day has covered crime and breaking news for the Southern California News Group since 2007. He’s a graduate of California State University, Fullerton and Cerritos College in Norwalk. He loves dogs and has a pet German shepherd, which in turn, has a pet cat. Brian is a local news junkie, a licensed drone pilot and a part-time science geek with an unfortunate predilection for puns.

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